Jersey Consumer Council: Appointment of Chair

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A decision made 20 December 2011:

Decision Reference: MD-E-2011-0208
Decision Summary Title :	DS – Jersey Consumer Council – Appointment of Chair		Date of Decision Summary:	19 December 2011
Decision Summary Author:	Director of Trading Standards		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Oral		Person Giving Oral Report:	Director of Trading Standards
Written Report Title :	Jersey Consumer Council – Appointment of Chair		Date of Written Report:	N/A
Written Report Author:	N/A		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Jersey Consumer Council – Appointment of Chair
Decision(s): The Minister has decided to lodge the attached draft Report and Proposition which is a recommendation to the States that they approve the appointment of Rose Edith Colley as Chair of the Jersey Consumer Council for a period of 3 years from the date of approval.
Reason(s) for Decision: The adoption by the States of P182/2010 resulted in a new mandate for the Jersey Consumer Council. One major reform was that the Chair was no longer restricted to being a States member. Following an advertising and recruitment process overseen by the Jersey Appointments Commission, Rose Edith Colley has agreed to Chair the Council for a period of 3 years. Part (b) (ii) of P182/2010 requires the Minister to seek States approval for the appointment of Rose Edith Colley as Chair.
Resource Implications: The Jersey Consumer Council is funded by an annual grant from the Economic Development Department. The grant for 2011 was £100,000. There are no manpower implications.
Action required: The Director of Trading Standards to provide the appropriate documentation to the Greffe to ensure that the draft Report and Proposition is lodged as soon as possible.
Signature: Senator AJH Maclean		Position: Minister for Economic Development
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Jersey Consumer Council: Appointment of Chair

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MINISTER

PROPOSITION TO THE STATES

JERSEY CONSUMER COUNCIL

APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRMAN

PROPOSITION

The States are asked to decide whether they are of opinion-

To refer to their Act dated 2nd February 2011 regarding the future mandate for the Jersey Consumer Council and in consideration of (b) (ii) of P182/2010, to approve the appointment of Rose Edith Colley as Chair of the Jersey Consumer Council for a term of 3 years with immediate effect.

REPORT

The Jersey Consumer Council was established by Act of the States in 1995 and since that time has been chaired by States member Senator Alan Breckon.

In 2008 a United Kingdom expert in consumer representation (Pact Consulting Limited) was engaged to review the operation of the Council and a number of recommendations were made. Subsequently in August 2009 the Minister asked Mr Colin Powell CBE to undertake an assessment of those recommendations to ensure that any proposed changes were appropriate for a small island jurisdiction. His report was published as an appendix in P182/2010.

There were a number of actions which flowed from the adoption by the States of P182/2010. Possibly the most significant was found in part (b) (ii) which is reproduced below:-

to request the Minister for Economic Development to take the necessary steps to provide for the Council’s effective operations by-

(ii) recommending to the States for approval the appointment of a Chairman who should not be limited to being a States member, and should be appointed in accordance with the Jersey Appointments Commission’s Code of Good Practice;

In effect this was a fundamental change to the previous constitution in that the role of Chair was no longer restricted to being a member of the States. A decision was also taken to offer an honorarium of £10,000 per annum to the new Chair for a minimum commitment of 10 hours per week on Council business.

Following a recruitment process which involved applications from a number of very highly qualified professionals the Minister is pleased to announce that he is recommending for approval the appointment of Rose Edith Colley as new Chair of the Jersey Consumer Council.

Rose Edith Colley

Rose Colley is an Advocate of the Royal Court and is currently a Partner at Viberts law firm and head of Family Law.

Ms Colley became a Solicitor in 1980 and spent a number of years as a lecturer for the Inner London Education Authority before entering into private practice in 1986. She completed her MBA at the Nottingham Law School in 1996.

Ms Colley moved to Jersey in 1997 becoming an Advocate in 2000 and joined Viberts the same year as Practice Director. She is a former acting Batonnier, the legal adviser to St John Ambulance in Jersey and sits on the Citizens Advice Bureau management committee.

Having recently stood in the Senatorial elections she finished 5th in the final vote and this has encouraged her to become more involved in a high profile community role. She is looking forward to applying her many skills in leading the Jersey Consumer Council for the next 3 years.

Resource Implications

There are no financial or manpower implications arising from the report and proposition.